KVR Audio

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Sun Nov 06, 2011 10:27 pm

netwalker007 wrote:Before purchasing Zebra I would recommend to have a short look at:

Gladiator 2
Harmor

Both I'm using for a longer time - rather for "conventional" sounds.
Harmor is an additive one, which can import anything converting the samples into graphics in high sound quality.

Pro's:
Gladiator - excellent sound quality, more than thousand presets.
Tweaking sounds is not very challenging.
Harmor: sound quality, can be used as a sampler with a huge range of import possibilities (complex samples, any graphics, too).
Contra's: Harmor needs a longer training to create high quality presets.

I would check out CPU load of Zebra: I red somewhere it eats a lot of CPU power but I haven't own experiences.

Thanks for that netwalker. I've heard of Gladiator but never heard of Harmor. I'll head on over and check them out.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:11 am

Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:21 am

lingyai wrote:Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?

I just went to the site and while there weren't alot of audio demos, they sounded good to me.

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:26 am

dblock wrote:
lingyai wrote:Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?
I just went to the site and while there weren't alot of audio demos, they sounded good to me.

I'm not a synth-head but for me it kicks a**

zvenx · Post by **zvenx** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 12:37 am

corrected my original post...yes we have same views on halionsonic. I actually liked nexus. quick sounds that work and will be most likely getting it in the december sale.
rsp

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:13 am

That's so easy, Nexus 2.

They have a wide variety of sounds available.

chj · Post by **chj** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:36 am

The thread seemed to quickly turn into which synth is best for programming a broad range of sounds. But for the original question, which has the best presets, yeah Nexus 2.

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:52 am

chj wrote:The thread seemed to quickly turn into which synth is best for programming a broad range of sounds. But for the original question, which has the best presets, yeah Nexus 2.

Yeah,thanks for getting it back on track even though all the input has been great.

layzer · Post by **layzer** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 4:58 am

this is all you need, right here....

http://www.tobybear.de/p_sourcebag.html

Lotuzia · Post by **Lotuzia** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 1:42 pm

Jus for general information, some companies, like the humble one in my sig, propose some soundbanks ADD ONS for a lot of synths. (ie thousands of new instruments for dozens of various synths). At a VERY affordable price.

In these soundbanks, all presets are tagged, when synths allow it, or benefit of themathic subbanks, and in any case ALWAYS use naming conventions wich allow musicians to find the right preset for the right track in the fastest possible way. ( ie all PADS will begin by a PA suffix like PA Wonderpad wich means they will appear together in a possibly long list of diverses instruments )

Imho getting a new soundbank in many cases is just like getting a new synth, or maybe better said, like rediscovering your synth. Except its much much less expensive. Actually it could also be seen as making a synth you already purchased a much better investment.

This beeing said, you might as well consider I'm totally biased

So just my POV ....

LtZ

stimresp · Post by **stimresp** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 1:55 pm

OP-X Pro has the best set of patches I've heard. Lots of recognisable sounds and very playable out of the box.
I usually delete the patches of synths I use, but with OP-X I have a an archive of classics 80's patches and more at my disposal.

Gamma-UT · Post by **Gamma-UT** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 2:13 pm

lingyai wrote:Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?

I think part of the problem is that it competes head-to-head with Reaktor and NI implemented a better-organised user library (although its ratings systems has been broken since forever). The user library has been one of the things that has helped NI shift a lot of copies, plus its inclusion in Komplete. (So Reaktor is one possibility for the OP as well: it's not just a synth with a bucketload of presets; it's a bucketload of preset synths with a bucketload of presets).

Historically, Tassman tended to have relatively high CPU usage which made it an instrument to use only where you needed that sound. On today's computers, though, it's nowhere near as bad.

himalaya · Post by **himalaya** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 2:21 pm

dblock wrote:
lingyai wrote:Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?
I just went to the site and while there weren't alot of audio demos, they sounded good to me.

If you have an appetite for more Tassman demos, then head to my Tassman page where you will find lots and lots of them.
Also head to Harm Visser's website and have a listen to his demos which are outstanding: http://www.hvsynthdesign.com/tassman.php

As to why Tassman isn't mentioned more...good question. It is still one of the best sounding VA synths, a cool resource of physical modeling and hybrid sounds.
The VA engine needs some improvements, namely, it needs hard sync, a filter that does not distort under certain conditions. The physical modeling would benefit from all the latest AAS designs, like for example, the new modules used in Collision (made for Ableton).
The GUI and some design aspects need an urgent revamp (its patch/preset management in particular) but still, even after all these years, it is a fine, fine instrument.

dblock · Post by **dblock** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 2:42 pm

himalaya wrote:
dblock wrote:
lingyai wrote:Out of curiousity -- why doesn't Tassman get much mention in these threads? Loads of presets, sounds great (to me), modular, very good service from AAS... what gives?
I just went to the site and while there weren't alot of audio demos, they sounded good to me.
If you have an appetite for more Tassman demos, then head to my Tassman page where you will find lots and lots of them.
Also head to Harm Visser's website and have a listen to his demos which are outstanding: http://www.hvsynthdesign.com/tassman.php

As to why Tassman isn't mentioned more...good question. It is still one of the best sounding VA synths, a cool resource of physical modeling and hybrid sounds.
The VA engine needs some improvements, namely, it needs hard sync, a filter that does not distort under certain conditions. The physical modeling would benefit from all the latest AAS designs, like for example, the new modules used in Collision (made for Ableton).
The GUI and some design aspects need an urgent revamp (its patch/preset management in particular) but still, even after all these years, it is a fine, fine instrument.

Thanks himalaya. I'll listen to some more demos.

UncleAge · Post by **UncleAge** » Mon Nov 07, 2011 3:07 pm

Interesting question really. I had to think about it for a bit. As far as factory presets are concerned there's probably only one synth where I rarely mess with the factory presets and use them as shipped. That would be Minimonsta. Coming in second would be Papen's Blue. I could mess with both but I rarely do.

After that it comes down to 3rd party libraries. And it's a bit of a toss-up for me between Zebra and Alchemy. Both have very good factory presets, no doubt. Both have very impressive efforts from some really good sound designers (3rd party stuff). In addition I find very little (if any) crossover between the 3rd party sounds I get for each synth. As a result they seem to compliment each other nicely. And for the few times that I have worked on some post/prod stuff for video I was happy that I had them both. In that environment the deadline is king and I have no qualms about being a preset whore if it gets the job done

With a gun to my head I guess I would pick Zebra due to the massive number of free presets in the UL. But I find both environments pretty deep in the preset category. Both synths could use a better preset managing system though.

What's the best vst synth for it's presets besides Omnisphere?